On Style and Politics

Referring to your response to a question from Bruce Johnson ’74 in the November 2021 issue of PAW, in which you say you are only following the orders of The Associated Press Stylebook when you capitalize “black” when it refers to a certain group of people and do not capitalize “white” when it refers to another group of people, it is clear to any reasonable person that the Associated Press has adopted a style for political purposes, not because it is consistent with a logical and consistent use of the English language. If the term “white” does not refer to a group with any similar characteristics other than skin color, then it is simply wrong to use it. If the term “black” can be used to group all people in the world who have a variation of the skin color black, then using the term certainly does the individuals an injustice. PAW, by blindly following this approach, is doing a serious injustice to both groups.

Editor’s note: For additional discussion of this topic, please see Marilyn H. Marks *86’s letter from the editor and Professor Carolyn Rouse’s essay, “Capital Crimes,” in the December 2021 issue.